Classic Poem

The man that's resolute and just,
Firm to his principles and trust,
Nor hopes nor fears can blind;
No passions his designs control;
Not love, that tyrant of the soul,
Can shake his steady mind.

II.

Not parties for revenge engag'd,
Nor threatenings of a court enrag'd,
Nor storms where fleets despair;
Not thunder pointed at his head;
The shatter'd world may strike him dead,
Not touch his soul with fear.

III.

From this the Grecian glory rose;
By this the Romans aw'd their foes:
Of this their poets sing.
These were the paths their heroes trod,
These acts made Hercules a god;
And great Nassau a king.

IV.

Firm on the rolling deck he stood,
Unmov'd beheld the breaking flood,
With blackening storms combin'd.
" Virtue, " he cry'd, " will force its way;
" The wind may for a while delay,
" Not alter our design.

V.

" The men whom selfish hopes inflame,
" Or vanity allures to fame,
" May be to fears betray'd:
" But here a church for succour flies,
" Insulted law expiring lies,
" And loudly calls for aid.

VI.

" Yes, Britons, yes, with ardent zeal,
" I come, the wounded heart to heal,
" The wounding hand to bind:
" See tools of arbitrary sway,
" And priests, like locusts, scout away
" Before the Western wind.

VII.

" Law shall again her force resume;
" Religion, clear'd from clouds of Rome,
" With brighter rays advance.
" The British fleet shall rule the deep,
" The British youth, as rous'd from sleep,
" Strike terror into France.

VIII.

" Nor shall these promises of fate
" Be limited to my short date:
" When I from cares withdraw,
" Still shall the British sceptre stand,
" Still flourish in a female hand,
" And to mankind give law.

IX.

" She shall domestic foes unite,
" Monarchs beneath her flags shall fight,
" Whole armies drag her chain:
" She shall lost Italy restore,
" Shall make th' imperial eagle soar,
" And give a king to Spain.

X.

" But know, these promises are given,
" These great rewards impartial heaven
" Does on these terms decree;
" That, strictly punishing men's faults,
" You let their consciences and thoughts
" Rest absolutely free.

XI.

" Let no false politics confine,
" In narrow bounds, your vast design
" To make mankind unite;
" Nor think it a sufficient cause
" To punish man by penal laws,
" For not believing right.

XII.

" Rome, whose blind zeal destroys mankind;
" Rome's sons shall your compassion find,
" Who ne'er compassion knew.
" By nobler actions their's condemn:
" For what has been reproach'd in them,
" Can ne'er be prais'd in you. "

XIII.

These subjects suit not with the lyre:
Muse! to what height dost thou aspire,
Pretending to rehearse
The thoughts of gods, and godlike kings?
Cease, cease to lessen lofty things
By mean ignoble verse.